


Moments

by more_than_words



Category: Supernatural
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-13
Updated: 2015-07-13
Packaged: 2018-04-09 03:04:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4331358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/more_than_words/pseuds/more_than_words
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charlie persuades Team Free Will into playing a game.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moments

“Just one game,” Charlie begged, tugging on the crook of Sam’s arm. The younger Winchester looked up from his laptop at the various books laying open on the table, then down at his hastily scribbled notes, and then up at Charlie. He offered her an apologetic look.

“Sorry, Charlie,” he replied, turning back to his laptop. “Not right now.” Charlie shot Dean an “I told you so” look which was met with an eye roll.

“C'mon, Sam,” Dean said gruffly from the other room. “The job’ll always be there.” Sam looked over at his brother and Dean pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows. “Just take a break, man.” Sam closed his eyes and ran a hair through his hair. The back of his eyes stung from staring at the computer screen for too long and his hopes of finding anything about The Mark had long exhausted into desperation. Another wasted day, he thought drearily. He looked up at Charlie again. She held up the game box, cocked an eyebrow, and shook it, the various pieces rattling around on the inside.

“Alright,” Sam exhaled, granting Charlie a half-hearted smile.

“Yes!” she cheered, bouncing happily as she grabbed Sam’s elbow and escorted him to the table where Dean was seated.

“I brought pizza,” a voice said suddenly from the top of the stairs. Cas had appeared, holding three pizza boxes.

“Awesome!” Dean exclaimed. “I’m starving!” They all watched as Cas descended the stairs, struggling to see his feet beneath the cargo he was carrying. Sam debated whether to get up and help him, Charlie wondered what it would be like to watch an angel trip and fall down the stairs, and Dean just watched the whole thing with an amused smile. However, Cas made it to their table unharmed.

“Thanks, Cas,” Sam said, reaching across the table and taking the boxes from him. 

“I ordered cheese sticks and meat lover’s, which both sounded safe,” Cas explained awkwardly. “And also a ‘supreme’ pizza. I took that to mean that it is superior to all other pizzas, so I ordered that as well.” Charlie smiled.  
“I guess that means you’re the pizza man, huh Cas?” she said, wiggling her eyebrows. She took a step closer and seductively ran her fingers down the sleeve of his trench coat. Cas stared at her blankly for a moment then turned bright red.

“I-er…uhm….” Cas began to stammer out a reply, but then just stopped. Charlie and the boys started laughing. Dean had told Charlie about the time they had exposed Cas to the confusing world of porn, and when the angel proceeded to practice his moves on a demon named Meg. Charlie had laughed for two days straight.

“You’ve perfected those flirtation skills since last time I saw them,” Dean managed after his bout of chuckles. He clutched his chest and pretended to tear up. “I’m so proud.” Charlie grinned, though tried to suppress it when she turned to Cas again.

“That’s right,” she agreed, lightly punching the angel on the shoulder. “You’re lucky I don’t swing that way.” Cas relaxed ever so slightly, but his face maintained a pink hue.

“Cas, we’re gonna play a board game,” Dean explained before Cas could slip off to somewhere free of his embarrassment.

“What?”

“A board game. It’s a-”

“Yes, I’m familiar with the term 'board game,’ but I was unaware the word 'game’ was in Dean Winchester’s vocabulary.”

“Are you kidding me?” the older Winchester said. “I love me a good ol’ game of poker!”

“How about anything that has no chance at monetary gain?” Cas demanded, squinting. Dean raised a hand and opened his mouth, prepared to fire back with the name of some child’s game that he’d just pull out of his ass. But he closed his mouth again, drawing a blank, devoid of any comeback. Sam scoffed.

“Let’s just chalk it up to John Winchester’s stellar parenting skills,” he said, his lip switching into a smile that was gone as soon as it appeared. The intended joke turning the air a bit sour and silence hung in the air for a few, long moments. Then, Charlie shook her head, as if shaking away bad thoughts.

“I call Cas!” she blurted into the dead air. The three men blinked away past memories and stared at Charlie blankly for a moment. She grinned a wide, quirky grin that looked more at home on her face than a sultry smirk any day. 

“Are you sure?” Dean asked with a smirk. “He seems like more of a detriment than a teammate.” Cas turned to the older Winchester and held his gaze.

“I accept that challenge,” the angel said coolly, a ghost of a smile playing at his lips. He turned to his teammate. “Let’s do this, Charlie.”

“Really?” Charlie asked, her face lighting up. “I thought for sure your bromance would win out!” She looked back and forth between the Dean and Cas, who looked away uncomfortably. Sam stifled a laugh, which resorted in him snorting. “Then let’s go, Cassie!” Charlie exclaimed quickly. She hurriedly sat down in a chair across from Dean and patted the seat next to her.

“Don’t call me that.”

So, Charlie pulled the lid off of the box of  _Pictionary_ and explained the rules to the two and a half men. Soon, the colorful map of the world decorating the table was replaced with the colorful game board, and everyone was prepared to have their drawing skills mocked by the others in the room.

It started off slowly, with the men pretending to have fun for Charlie’s sake, but soon the smiles became authentic and the gloom in the room gradually lifted. The teams were matched pretty evenly, in fact. The two brothers had neither experience in playing the game or hardly any artistic skill, but they made up for it with their competitive natures and their similar thought processes. On the other hand, Charlie had played the game before and had more artistic skill than the other players combined, yet she was paired with Cas. He was very accurate, yet painfully slow, at drawing and he was a terrible guesser. 

“Nucleus. Cell. Blood clot. White cells defending the body from a virus,” the angel shot off as Charlie drew several circles in a clump. She shook her head, crinkling her nose and grinning with each guess. Then, she drew lines coming down from the circles.

“Broccoli. Cauliflower. Caviar in a cone shaped container.” Cas’ brow furrowed, sincerely puzzled. Charlie laughed, shaking her head vigorously.

“What the hell, Cassie?” she managed. “C'mon, man, you gotta give me somethin!” Cas named off several other, more obscure answers with everything Charlie drew, which only made his teammate laugh harder.

“Time!” Sam interrupted as the last grains of sand fell to the bottom of the mini hour glass. Charlie threw down her pencil in fake exasperation.

“Balloons!” she blurted out. “Was that really that hard?”

“Apparently so,” Cas shot back. “With your barely average drawing skills.” Charlie gasped.

“Sassy Cassie!” she said, tilting her head to the side ever so slightly, sporting an equally lopsided grin. “I like it!" 

"It could also have something to do with my horrific guessing skills,” he admitted, letting a smile creep ever his lips as well.

“Ya think?!”

“Finally!” Dean exclaimed, returning from the kitchen with a second round of beer for everyone. “Your tyrannical reign comes to an end and we finally get to play!” He drew a card and got the action “smile,” which turned out to be a pretty easy guess for Sam. Dean was then given the pleasure of stealing the dice and letting them fly, receiving a gracious pair of fives.

“Uh oh,” Sam said as he moved their black piece ahead of the opposing red piece. “Looks like team Winchester just took the lead.” Charlie and Cas responded in the appropriate, reactionary fashion and the brothers high-fived each other.

Thus the game went on; the two teams leap frogging each other, passing the lead back and forth. It continued this way until the very end of the game. Both teams were stuck on the final space- a dreaded “All Play” space, no less- and kept handing the turns back and forth. 

“Time!” Cas declared, marking the end of the Winchester’s second attempt to  clinch their victory. Sam pounded his fist on the table and Dean groaned, crumpling up the paper he’d been drawing on.

“What the hell was that thing?” Sam asked, snatching the paper and unfurling it to look at Dean’s drawing.

“A blimp." 

"Seriously?” Sam asked. Dean nodded, breaking into a smile. Sam giggled, which seemed misplaced in his large body, as he looked down at the picture again. He held it up for Charlie and Cas to see.

“It looks like a pregnant cat!” he managed to say between laughs. Charlie joined in laughing and Cas agreed that it did indeed look like a pregnant cat as he grabbed the next card from the pile. He read the all play section and then slid it across the table for Sam to read. Sam read it, cracked his knuckles, and picked up his pencil with renewed purpose. Cas prepared himself for the task at hand and Charlie looked at him seriously.

“You’ve got this Cassie!” she encouraged him.

“Don’t-” he began to correct her, but thought against it. “I won’t let you down, Charles.”

“Oh, I see how it is.”

“You’ve got this, Sammy,” Dean mirrored on the opposite side of the table. Sam shook out his hands and stretched his neck from side-to-side while Dean pat him on the back.

“I’ve got this, I’ve got this…” the younger Winchester repeated to himself. 

“Alright,” Charlie said, hand poised over the timer. “Ready?” Castiel nodded and the Winchesters followed suit. 

“Go!”

Both Sam and Castiel began to draw as Charlie and Dean blurted out whatever came to their mind.

“Face!” Dean began, as Sam started with a simple circle.

“Belly button!” Charlie said soon after when Cas filled a similar circle in with a black.

“Lasso!”

“Intestines!”

“Crazy, snake guy!”

“Is it an instrument?” Charlie wondered aloud. Cas’s eyes widened ever-so-slightly and he nodded as he continued to draw. 

“Tuba!” Charlie yelled. 

“Yes,” Cas admonished. His lips twitched into a slight smile as Sam threw his hands up in defeat.

“Tuba?!” Dean demanded, looking closely at Sam’s drawing. “You’re telling me that’s a tuba?!”

“Hey!” Sam said defensively, laughing. “Tuba’s are hard!”

“Apparently!” Dean spat. “Because that looks like a guy gettin strangled by a friggin’ boa constrictor!” Dean held it up for everyone to see and even he couldn’t keep a straight face.

“And team Spock and Hermione emerge triumphant!” Charlie exclaimed, offering her palm for Cas to high-five. He did so gingerly, his face a mask of befuddlement. “An unlikely pairing, to be sure,” she continued in an announcer voice, “but they emerge victorious!”

“Spock…?” Cas repeated.

“Dude, you are totally Spock,” Dean agreed, nodding slowly.

“Who are we?” Sam asked, looking to his brother. 

“Psh! Eddie and Alex Van Halen!” Dean said almost instantly. He looked at his brother askance. “I’m Eddie, obviously.”

“Hm,” Charlie murmured thoughtfully. “I had you pinned as Han Solo and Chewbacca." 

"Hey!” Sam objected, but Charlie and Dean just laughed.

“You’re right, kid,” Dean said, still chuckling. “I like that much better.”

“I’d better leave before I become completely overwhelmed with more pop culture references that I don’t understand,” Cas muttered sarcastically. He stood up and extended a hand to Charlie. “This was… fun, Charles.”

“There will be a spot for you on my team anytime, Cassie,” Charlie replied fondly, ignoring his outstretched hand and hugging him around his mid-section. The angel hesitated at first, then folded into the hug without objection. The Winchesters saw the slight, pleased smile that swept across Cas’s mouth that just as quickly disappeared. And with that, the angel was gone, off to God knows where. Upon his leave, Dean rose from his chair and stretched.

“Well,” he said, after a long yawn. “I think I’m gonna hit the hay.” He pat his brother on the back. “You should too,” Dean said seriously, meeting his brothers eyes with a “no-nonsense” look. Sam granted him a half-smile and nodded. Satisfied, Dean extended his arms to Charlie and she readily accepted the hug.

“Good night, Dean,” she said, the sound muffled into his shoulder. “Thanks for playing.”

“Anytime, kid,” he replied softly. “Thanks for keeping things light around here.” He held the back of her head and pressed a kiss to her wild, red hair before releasing the hug. Charlie’s eyes flit to the Mark, just visible beneath the sleeve of his Henley. Her heart hurt just looking at it, and she quickly forced her gaze back Dean’s eyes. She smiled and Dean returned it, both expressions slightly tinged with melancholy.

“Sure thing!” she murmured. Dean stacked the pizza boxes and carried them off with him as he left. 

“G'night, Charlie!” he called over his shoulder. “G'night, Sam!”

“G'night, Dean,” Sam replied. It was only him and Charlie now. He rose from his chair and began to pick up the empty beer cans as Charlie cleared the game from the table. They heard Dean’s door close down the hall.

“How’s the research coming?” Charlie whispered, after she knew Dean was safely out of earshot. Sam shook his head and sighed.

“I haven’t found anything new,” he said, dejected. “I just keep running into the same lore over and over again. Nothing about how to get rid of the Mark.” He walked over and tossed the empty cans in a trash can then returned. Charlie remained silent.

“I’ll just have to keep looking,” Sam muttered. He leaned on the back of a chair, staring down at the floor. Charlie noticed his tense posture as she pushed the lid back on the box.

“Hey,” she said, walking around to where Sam was. “It’ll be okay. We’ll find a way. Cas is looking, I’m doing the best I can… we’re bound to come up with something.” Sam said nothing. Charlie placed a hand on Sam’s white knuckles and rubbed his back with the other. He relaxed slightly.

“That game was a good idea though,” Sam murmured. “Thanks.” He offered her a half-smile and she mirrored the expression.

“Sometimes,” she said steadily, “I think it’s best to take a break and enjoy the moment.” She paused for a moment, thinking. “Like Dean said-” she continued- “'the job will always be there’… but the people around you won’t be.” Sam looked up from the floor to her.

“You say that like you’re going somewhere,” he teased. “Is there something you aren’t telling me?” Charlie breathed a laugh through her nose.  
“Nope!” she replied cheerfully. “You can’t get rid of me- I’m the life of the party around here!”

“That’s for sure,” Sam said, chuckling. Charlie stifled a yawn. “It looks like the life of the party needs to head to bed.” The petite red-head just shrugged.  
“Can’t argue with that one,” she acknowledged. She glanced at Sam’s laptop and then looked at him suspiciously. “You’re coming too,” she said, linking her elbow in his and pulling him towards the hallway.

“I thought you didn’t swing that way?”

“Not to my bed, you perv!” she said, smacking him lightly in the stomach. He just laughed and she giggled, both of them slightly beer-buzzed and maybe even slap-happy. They walked down the hallway like that, arm in arm, as their footsteps echoed off the walls of the bunker. They didn’t say anything, just enjoyed the short walk to their rooms in silence. Charlie’s room came first, and Sam and Dean’s were just beyond, down the hall a little ways.

“This is my stop,” Charlie said, halting in front of her door. She turned and pressed a tight hug to Sam’s waist, which he returned without equal force. “Good night, Sam,” she murmured. Sam closed his eyes and relished in having Charlie so close, in being able hold her safely in his arms for a moment. They stood like that for a long few seconds, then Charlie was the first to pull away. 

“Good night, Charlie,” Sam said finally. Charlie turned to go into her room, but then whipped around as if she remembered something.

“Promise me you’ll get some sleep,” she commanded, pointing her finger at him in a “no-nonsense” sort of way.

“I promise,” he agreed, smiling genuinely. Satisfied, Charlie nodded.

“Okay, g'night,” she whispered again for good measure, entering her room and closing the door softly behind her. Sam’s smile lingered until several seconds after Charlie had gone. He looked back down the hallway, the way that they had come, wondering if he should have another go at the research. Dean didn’t have that much time, the Mark was getting worse every day. Charlie had Sam’s best interests in mind, but would it be in Dean’s best interest to give up for the night?

Sam decided against it. It wouldn’t be helping anyone if Sam didn’t get some rest. He was going to let the pleasant after-taste of tonight’s antics fill his soul for awhile. He was going to take Charlie’s advice and enjoy the moment. 

Sam thought about a quote from Henry David Thoreau he had heard once- “You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.” If there was ever a moment Sam would want to live in for eternity, tonight would be one of them. But, Sam didn’t have eternity. All he had to cherish this moment was tonight, and that would have to do.


End file.
